"Bastard… I didn't want it to come to this, but there's no choice now."
Midnight slowly stood up.
Lucy said, "What else do you want? It's already over!"
"At the stroke of midnight, my distortion reaches its absolute limit. Aaaaaahhhhh!!"
Midnight shouted as a black substance stained his body. His frame began to swell, expanding into a massive, muscle-bound monster in the blink of an eye.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
"What?!"
"I don't care what your fate will be!"
"Uwaaaaaaa!!"
With a shout, Midnight lunged at Kael, the ground shattering wherever he stepped. He condensed a massive amount of magic power in his palm and drove it straight down toward Kael.
BOOM—!!
A terrifying explosion erupted, pulping half of Nirvana's structure with raw magic power. The shockwave sent everyone flying through the air.
"Aghhhhhh!!"
"Waaaaaa!!"…
Splat!!
Two tentacles suddenly skewered through everyone's chests, stringing them together like meat on a skewer. Kael, Lucy, Jura, Sherry, Gray, and Lyon were all impaled.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
Midnight laughed with pure madness.
Suddenly!
Kael's voice rang out: "Stop laughing."
"Ga—?!"
"Your illusion magic is decent. First, you used images to deceive our vision, then you used spatial magic to trick our hearing and touch. Deceiving three of the five senses is enough to create a realistic effect."
"To be honest, I was almost fooled by you. However, one weakness was far too obvious."
Midnight stared at Kael with a contorted face. "What did you say?!"
"The same as before. Your attack power is too weak. You can't even break my defense. These tentacles skewering my body... they're a bit unnecessary, aren't they?" Kael looked down at the tentacle.
"Damn it!"
Midnight suddenly remembered how absurdly broken Kael's defense was. His magic was completely useless against this monster. But there was no need to worry; the opponent was already caught in his illusion. He would find a way to finish this guy.
Hum—!
Kael pointed his index finger at Midnight, a small black sphere forming at the tip.
Just as everyone expected Kael to attack Midnight's massive body...
Kael suddenly pivoted, pointing to his side.
"Eh—?!"
Midnight's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Cero Oscuras."
Kael said coldly and flatly.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaa!!"
The black light swallowed Midnight whole.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several structures were leveled by the Cero Oscuras.
"Pfft!"
Midnight spat blood as he lay amidst the ruins of the shattered buildings.
"My... my illusion magic... was it useless..."
"No, it was effective. It's just that while eyes can be deceived, magic power cannot."
Magic power sensing. This refers to an Arrancar's 'magic power perception.' In this world, it translated to magic power sensing. The enemy's strength and position were displayed in Kael's mind as cyan flames. Although he had seen the giant Midnight, the magic power reading was displayed on his other side.
Lucy and the others finally broke free from the illusion.
"What... what just happened?!"
"I remember my body being pierced just now..."
"An illusion?"
Jura felt his own body. He had sensed something was off, but the impact of the visuals had been too strong, preventing him from realizing he was under an illusion in such a short time.
Illusion magic was no joke. Once caught, what the eyes saw was no longer reality. An enemy could launch a magical strike, and the victim wouldn't even notice.
"Kael, my thanks. If you hadn't intervened, we might have all been killed."
Kael waved it off. "Don't mention it. We're an alliance; helping each other is only natural."
At this time, the battle between Erza and Hoteye had also reached its conclusion.
Hoteye's Eye was formidable, nearly predicting all of Erza's attacks, but Erza's speed still exceeded his expectations. Combined with the injury previously dealt by Kael, the fight ended shortly after Kael's side finished.
In the sky, Natsu and Cobra were in a fierce clash. The voices of Brain, Hoteye, and Midnight had all vanished, leaving Cobra feeling frantic and disoriented.
In the blink of an eye, he was the only member of the Oracion Seis left. With his strength, could he really defeat a monster like Kael?
"No, it's impossible!"
Cobra gave himself the answer. He had fought Kael twice, and both times he had been helpless. The man was a monster through and through.
But he was unwilling to abandon the 'Nirvana' they had worked so hard to find.
"What the hell are you mumbling about?!"
Natsu lunged at Cobra, driving a fist into his face before burying another punch in his gut. Natsu began a relentless assault on Cobra.
"Bastard!"
Cobra tried to counter, but a sharp, searing pain erupted from his back—it was the wound from the Moonlight Sword Kael had slashed him with earlier.
"Merging the flames of the left and right hand!"
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!!"
Natsu merged the flames in his hands, forming a massive fireball that slammed into Cobra.
"Uwaaaaaaaa!!"
BOOM—!!
The fireball and Cobra slammed into the ground together, erupting in a violent explosion.
As the smoke cleared, Cobra lay unconscious in a massive crater. All of the Oracion Seis had finally been defeated.
"Yes! We finally beat the Oracion Seis!"
Lucy and Sherry cheered together.
As they were celebrating...
Rumble—!!
A pillar of dark green magic power shot into the sky.
Everyone's attention was instantly snatched away.
Brain, who had been defeated, stood back up. He seemed like an entirely different person; his eyes were filled with bloodlust, and his entire aura was profoundly evil.
"B-Brain?"
At that moment, the skull staff that had been lying beside Brain suddenly bowed and kowtowed. "Wel... welcome back!! Master Zero!!"
Lucy couldn't help but retort, "The magic staff talked!!"
"Master? Is he the leader of the Oracion Seis?!"
Sherry noticed how the staff addressed him.
Erza's face went grim. "Careful! This guy is completely different from the one before!"
Zero sneered. "Things have become quite interesting, Klodoa."
"Yes! I... I am terribly sorry!!"
"Speaking of which, it's been a long time. This feeling, this body, this voice, this magic power—it's all so nostalgic!"
Zero turned his gaze toward Kael. "You've left my guild in a complete mess. You're quite something, kid."
------------------------
Currently on Patreon: Chapter 300 available.
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/LIZBETH1242
If you leave reviews, I'll upload more chapters faster.